Lord, my life is in Your hands. I don’t know whether I will live or die, but I want to win this village in Your name at any cost. If I die, who will win this village? So make a way so that I can do something for this village.
Pastor Tulsiram, a GFA native missionary in Chhattisgarh, prayed these words as he was being beaten for his Gospel witness. Christians around the world were praying for our brother, who was released the next day.
With a heart touched by Christ’s compassion for the lost, Pastor Tulsiram began his ministry in this particular area in 2002. “His burden for this village drove him to fast, pray and cry before the Lord day and night to win this village for Jesus in the coming days,” writes a GFA leader. The Lord answered the native pastor’s earnest prayers and worked powerfully through him to bring spiritually needy people into the Kingdom. One new believer, Pasru, had suffered from an illness since childhood. Pastor Tulsiram encouraged him to trust Jesus for healing and, along with other believers, fasted and prayed for seven days to this end. At the end of seven days, the Lord supernaturally intervened, healing Pasru completely. Through this miracle, Pasru and his family were moved to receive Christ. Others also came to know the Lord Jesus in a personal way through such healings.
God gave Pastor Tulsiram and his assistant, Pastor Vijay, a growing flock of precious new believers. Yet they had no place of their own in which to worship. Many of these eager young Christians offered their own land for a church building. Meanwhile, a village priest came to know the Savior. An anti-Christian group noted this activity. Fearing the whole village would leave their traditional religion and turn to Christ, members of the group threatened Pastor Tulsiram and demanded he leave the area immediately.
Despite the threats, our native pastor courageously stayed and continued his ministry to souls thirsting for hope. The Lord blessed his work with a thriving congregation of 50 new believers. During a time of worship, the village head and a fundamentalist group gathered to storm the service. They severely beat Pastor Tulsiram and his assistant, Pastor Vijay, and kidnapped them. By God’s grace, Pastor Vijay was able to escape and run for help. Pastor Tulsiram was kept overnight in a secret location, where he was repeatedly beaten and mocked.
In the morning, Pastor Tulsiram’s captors brought him before the village council meeting, where a crowd of about 250 people had gathered. There the pastor was beaten yet again. New believers who were present testified of how the Lord had changed their lives. Village officials, wary of the pastor’s growing influence, demanded to know why he had not left the area. The GFA leader for Pastor Tulsiram’s district had come back with Pastor Vijay to speak on the kidnapped pastor’s behalf. He bravely told the village council that Pastor Tulsiram was not forcing anyone to become a Christian, that they had willingly chosen to follow Jesus. Upon hearing this, one by one the crowd dispersed. The village chief then released Pastor Tulsiram—but not without warning him not to come back. For the moment, Pastor Tulsiram is staying in another village. Please continue to pray for this dedicated pastor. Pray for the young church congregation.
To read an interview with Pastor Tulsiram, click here.